


The Setting Sun

by adelaide_rain



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Kravitz being a good dude, Thinking About Death, mentions of taako/kravitz
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-19 06:43:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13118232
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adelaide_rain/pseuds/adelaide_rain
Summary: Kravitz and Magnus watch the sunset and talk about death.





	The Setting Sun

**Author's Note:**

  * For [2impostors](https://archiveofourown.org/users/2impostors/gifts).



Magnus squints at the sunset. 

His eyesight isn't what it once was, but the colours - glorious ribbons of pink and purple and gold - those he can see clearly enough. It's a beautiful end to the day.

Magnus has been thinking a lot about endings lately.

He's old, he knows. It's strange to grow old at a different rate than your friends. Seeing them stay the same while seeing so much change in yourself. Hair growing grey, joints starting to creak, a litany of aches and pains amassing with the years. 

But his friends - like Kravitz, sitting beside him, drinking a beer and enjoying the view - they stay young and beautiful. Agile, strong. Magnus isn't a proud man and beauty has never been important to him, but strength and pain-free movement? He misses those, fiercely.

But then, Kravitz is a bad example, Magnus thinks, turning to look at his profile, his easy smile as he gazes out at the sunset. He's not like Taako, who's still young for an elf, who has centuries of life left. Kravitz isn't alive; even now, having been his friend for fifty years, Magnus doesn't know much about his actual life, about the time when he breathed because he needed to, rather than out of habit. It always seemed rude to ask.

But these days, mortality weighs on Magnus more than it used to. He's running out of time to ask, and there are important questions he'd like answered.

"What's death like?" He asks, and Kravitz glances at him, mildly surprised. 

"I... I hear it's peaceful. Being part of the Sea of Souls brings a unity, a completeness beyond anything you could find in life."

An interesting choice of words, Magnus thinks, cocking his head; the words of an observer, not a participant.

"Did you-" He pauses, scratches his chin. "This... This might be rude? I don't know. But - did you ever actually die? Are you dead?"

Kravitz cocks his head, thinking. "Strictly speaking, I'm undead." He laughs, and it lights up his face, making him even handsomer; his crimson eyes are bright when they meet Magnus's. "Remind Taako of that sometime; he does enjoy being reminded that his husband is undead." Magnus snorts. "But - did I die? Briefly. It was - unpleasant." The smile vanishes and is replaced by something haunted that makes Magnus regret asking. But then Kravitz shrugs, and the ghosts retreat. "But my death was only unpleasant because of the way I died. Passing over naturally is nothing to be afraid of."

Magnus tries not to notice that Kravitz is answering a question he hasn't asked. 

"So how did you end up working for the Raven Queen?" 

Another pause, but there's something different about this one. He goes perfectly still for a moment, not even breathing. But then he shrugs again, though it's stiffer than before. 

"Like I said, my death was... Unpleasant. Dark rituals - against my will-" He pauses and swallows, and there are some things, Magnus thinks, that you never get over, not even after centuries. 

"I'm sorry," Magnus says. "I shouldn't've asked."

"No, it's - just hard to think about. In short: I died, but before my soul reached the Sea of Souls, the Raven Queen offered me a chance to stop the same thing happening to other people." He sighs, and takes a long drink of his beer. "If I'm being honest, I was so tired. So - done, with everything. I just wanted to rest. But I knew that what happened to me would happen to someone else if I refused her. So... Here I am."

"You're a good person, Kravitz."

He laughs, and smiles, looking pleased, as he tucks a loc behind his ear. "Thank you, Magnus. I try." He looks thoughtful for a moment. "It's not always been easy - some of the things I've seen... I mean, this is a sacred duty, and I'm proud of what I do. But sometimes, it's... Being undead for so long, seeing what I've seen. Being an avatar of the goddess of death can be hard. It's - consuming. Too easy to lose yourself, unless you have someone to remind you." His gaze drops to his left hand, to the band of gold around his ring finger and he smiles, softly, sweetly. 

"Taako made you feel human again," Magnus says, then glances at Kravitz's raised eyebrow, at his pointed ears. "Uh - half-elven again?"

"Not just Taako, all of you. You reminded me that there's more to existence than work. Reminded me that a heart is more than a physical thing. Made me _me_ again. And I'm so grateful for that."

Magnus wonders, momentarily, what Kravitz will do when Taako finally dies. These long years without Julia have weighed so heavily on him; they've been so very hard. But he knew they'd be reunited eventually; Kravitz has no such comfort. 

But it's not a question he can ask, so he lets it drift from his thoughts, like clouds in the sky. 

"So the Raven Queen," he says, his thoughts inevitably turning back to the inevitable. "She's not so bad?"

Kravitz laughs softly. "No, not so bad. She's hard to comprehend sometimes, even for me. Even after all these years. More than anyone who's ever been mortal can really understand. But she’s... Compassionate. She is things as they should be, however much mortals might disagree."

And Magnus does disagree, the embers of his grief over losing Julia stirring and sparking. 

But he thinks too of Lucas Miller's hubris, of Refuge, of a century of dying again and again and again, and he thinks he understands. A little. Reluctantly.

"And you don't regret it? Accepting her offer?"

"No. It was a hard choice but I don't regret it and I never have. Especially not now." He looks closely at Magnus, then reaches out to put a warm hand over Magnus's, and speaks softly. "Death is nothing to be afraid of, my friend."

"I'm not afraid." It's not boasting; just a simple fact. He doesn't crave death like he did just after Raven's Roost. Nor does he throw himself into danger these days, heedless - contemptuous, even - of his mortality. 

Like with Kravitz, Taako and the others gave him back to himself. 

But Kravitz has given Magnus a precious gift. Though Lup and Barry are reapers too, they don't have the same deep respect for the natural passage of life and death that Kravitz does, though perhaps they will in time. Seeing that part of Kravitz has brought Magnus peace, and he's grateful for it. Not fearing death is easy for him; accepting it is another thing entirely.

"I'm glad I met you, Kravitz."

"Me too," Kravitz says, and he turns a smile on Magnus, so bright it warms his heart. 

No, he thinks. Death is nothing to be afraid of. Not when he’s a friend.

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by [2imposters](https://twitter.com/2impostors) talking about Kravitz being a good and gentle dude. It's not exactly what I intended to write, but! Hopefully they, and you, still like it <3
> 
> You can find me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/adelaide_rain) and [tumblr.](http://raininginadelaide.tumblr.com)


End file.
